Table 3. UCOT Exp2 - Tier 3 Job Function.

An individual’s Job Function is defined by specific skill sets and/or credentials required for employment in that function. The unabridged version of UCOT Exp2 ( Extended data: S1) includes Job Function, Definition, Coding Clarifications, Job Title Examples, and Common Coding Scheme.

JOB FUNCTION	Definition	Coding clarifications
Administration	Administrative-intensive roles in which the individual is managing people, projects, and resources.	Spends more than 50% of their time in administrative duties that are internal to the organization.
Business Development, Consulting, and Strategic Alliances	Role relevant to the development, execution, management, or analysis of a business. Role may include external relationship management, refinement of operational efficiency, or fee-based advisory services.	Director or higher-level positions that have primarily externally-facing responsibilities
Clinical Research Management	Role that is responsible for the oversight, management, or design of clinical research trials.
Clinical Services	Role that involves that administration of clinical services or research.
Data Science, Analytics, and Software Engineering	Role that primarily involves programming, analytics, advanced statistics, data communication, and/or software development.
Entrepreneurship	Founder or co-founder of their own business or enterprise, and employer of at least one other person.	This category should not be used for C-suite executives of established companies, they should be classified as “Business Development” unless they were also involved in founding the company. Freelance specialists should be classified in the field of their specialization ( e.g., science communications, consulting).
Group Leader or Principal Investigator	Role that involves leading a research team in any research environment. The individual is clearly responsible for funding and managing a research group.	This job function will be used in multiple sectors (academia, nonprofit, for-profit, government).
Healthcare Provider	Role where the primary responsibility is providing healthcare.	These individuals usually fall into the Career Type “Science-related,” unless it is clear that they are primarily performing research; in that case, the career type might be “Primarily Research.”
Intellectual Property and Law	Role that involves the curation, management, implementation or protection of intelligence and creation, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, or trade secrets.	Law students belong to this Job Function (instead of “Completing further education”) because their career outcome is specific. Their training status will be captured at the Career Type level as “Further Training.”
Postdoctoral	A temporary mentored training position following completion of doctoral degree.	At the Career Type level, classify the postdoc according to the type of postdoctoral research that they are engaged in, likely either “Primarily Research” or “Primarily Teaching.”
Regulatory Affairs	Role that involves controlling or evaluating the safety and efficacy of products in areas including pharmaceuticals, medicines, and devices.
Research Staff or Technical Director	Role that directly involves performing and managing research.	The individual is involved in research, but not responsible for funding and managing a group. “Staff fellow” is coded here if it is not an official postdoctoral position.
Sales and Marketing	Role that is related to the sales or marketing of a science-related product or service.	A medical science liaison should be classified as “Technical Support and Product Development.”
Science Education and Outreach	Role that involves K-12 teaching or public outreach at a primary/secondary school, science museum, scientific society, or similar.	A public school belongs in the Government Sector.
Science Policy and Government Affairs	Role that involves policy or program development and review, including analysis, advisory, or advocacy.	Unless a program officer is actively involved in determination of policy, that individual should be classified as “Administration.”
Science Writing and Communication	Role that involves the communication of science-related topics.
Teaching Faculty or Staff	Teaching position at post-secondary schools, universities, or institutions with no contractual research responsibilities.	Positions in elementary and high schools should be coded as “Science Education and Outreach.”
Technical Support and Product Development	Role that requires specialized technical/ expert knowledge of a science-related product.
Other Employment	Role that does not require scientific training or involve the direct implementation or communication of science.	Includes: Industry not related to science; politics not focused on science; food or hospitality services; military service; volunteer/mission work.
Completing Further Education	Pursuing additional education that usually results in graduation with conferment of a degree or certificate; this does not include traditional academic postdoctoral positions which have their own Job Function “Postdoctoral.”	Pursuing additional education where the career outcome is not specific or clear. Postdoctoral trainees should be classified in the "Postdoctoral" Job Function and Career Type based on their broad field.
Unemployed or Seeking Employment	Known to be temporarily out of the workforce but likely to return.
Deceased/ Retired	Permanently out of the workforce.
Unknown	No title or career information can be found for this individual.